September 9, 2016

Social Security disability hearings can be confusing – the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), your attorney, and the experts use a lot of jargon that may make it sound like they are speaking a completely new language. The basic issue that all of these people are discussing is whether you can perform the duties of a full-time job. However, Social Security’s rules require that the ALJ provide a detailed explanation of why he or she thinks you can or cannot work. The ALJ must determine your “residual functional capacity” (RFC), which is a description of what kinds of work-like activities, if any, you are able to perform in spite of your impairments. The judge must specifically address all the different physical and mental limitations you have. The elements of your physical residual functional capacity – your ability to sit, stand, walk, lift, reach, stoop, etc. – are pretty self-explanatory. The judge must assess how much of an eight-hour work day you are able to do each of these things. However, as you probably know well, your medical conditions cause problems in many more areas than just your ability to do physical activities. If you have pain, mental health diagnoses, or medication side effects, you likely have difficulty with mental tasks as well. Your skills in concentrating, solving problems, and interacting with others are just as vital to your ability to keep a job as your physical capabilities are. Unfortunately, though, it can be difficult to describe how mental limitations affect your ability to work. Here are some ways you may notice that your mental limitations affect your daily life: You have difficulty sitting through an entire TV show or reading a whole magazine article because your back pain bothers you so much. You start lots of projects, but you never finish … Continued